Anchor
by Deux-X-Machina
Summary: Sometimes, even the greatest of heroes needs something to keep his own sanity. Sometimes, it comes in the most unexpected ways. One(or Two)-shot series. ShirouxAyako
1. Chapter 1

_"Because, sometimes, what you need is not someone that understands you, nor someone who went through something similar to your own experience, but someone normal, that reminds you that yes, you are still alive and..._

_...you are still human."_

Hi there! Deux-X-Machina here. This is the first fic I have decided to publish, ever. Mostly because I think my own work is crap, but also due to not really having the time to finish a single story so far. Meh.

This is gonna be a series of short stories, mostly, though they will all be connected somehow.

But anyway, you are not here to hear (read) me rambling so, enjoy! And if you could, please review to tell (write) me how good (or bad... probably bad) I did and if you feel like I could have done something different.

*Also, my English is not perfect by any means, so this works as a sort of self-improving exercise.

* * *

...it was so boring.

That was Shirou Emiya's thought process, as he strolled through the streets of Shinto, back from work.

He had actually left early, mostly due to a combination of the chores of the day being fulfilled and Neko's rather persuasive arguments.

* * *

_"Emi-yan! You are free early, you finished your chores rather quickly."_

_Shirou looked at her. "Oh, but I don't mind staying for some time longer, you might need the help, after all."_

_Neko laughed. "Nonsense boy~a, get the hell out of there, isn't there anything you have to do on an afternoon? Maybe you could take a girl on a date, you know."_

_Shirou blushed at that. " W-What are you talking about, Neko? You know I'm not dating anyone."_

_Neko suddenly gained a sly look. "Well, Emi-yan, is never too late to start."_

* * *

And so, the argument kept going for a bit, with Shirou denying any romantic interest and insisting in staying to help, and Neko continuously ignoring him and saying that he needed a life and to go on and find a cute girl.

In the end, he was thoroughly kicked out of the place, courtesy of Neko, and he decided to take a stroll through the city.

Shirou sighed, quite unsure of what to do at this time of the day. It was too early to go home and, if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to come back yet.

After all, coming back would mean different concerns and responsibilities, the likes of which no normal person would think a boy like Shirou had.

Seriously, fighting in a secret war was something that he could not help but feel overwhelmed with.

He sighed, again. Besides Tohsaka's continuous mocking, Saber's obvious disappointment in her Master, and Sakura having been revealed as a Master herself (of Rider of all Servants), Shirou's mental stability was in a rather fragile shape.

"Oh, Emiya! What are you doing here? I thought you worked at the Copenhagen?"

Shirou turned at the familiar voice. Behind him was the captain of the archery club Shirou used to attend, Mitsuzuri Ayako.

"Oh, Mitsuzuri, it's you."

"What do you mean it's me? Where you waiting for someone else? Oh my, do you have a secret date?"

Shirou almost face-faulted. "Wait what? No! Why are people assuming I should be on a date?"

Ayako smirked at him. "Hoh? It seems I'm not the only one who sees it, wouldn't you say, Emiya?"

Shirou blinked at her. "Hm? See what?"

Ayako sighed, she shouldn't have expected anything else. "So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working?"

"Oh, well yes, but I somehow ended all my chores earlier than anticipated and my boss gave me (A/N: Read: Forced me to take) the day off."

"Oh, so are you telling me than the mighty "Fake School Janitor" was refused in his quest to help everyone?"

She laughed and Shirou grumbled. "Hey! There is nothing wrong in trying to help other people..." He was certainly _not _pouting.

"Hehehe, oh just relax Emiya, I'm messing with you is all. So, what are you doing now that you have the day for yourself?"

"Honestly?" He asked, and Ayako nodded. "I have no idea."

She blinked at him for a second, then, a rather very intimidating smirk made its way to her face. "Oh, is that so?"

Shirou gulped, in what was obviously a manly act of bravery and not being at the verge of a full out sprint.

* * *

Shirou sighed, for what felt like the thousandth time that day. After forcing him to take her to a restaurant, Ayako thought it would be a good idea to take the grumbling Emiya to a shopping trip, and by shopping trip, she meant the "make-Shirou-stand-by-while-she-tried-dozens(thous ands)-of-different-outfits-and-have-him-carry-all- her-bags" kind of trip.

Shirou stood outside of the changing boot, waiting patiently for Ayako to finish changing in "dress number sixty-three".

He was growing increasingly uncomfortable with all the looks the female population of the cosplay store was giving him. Of course, the fact that Shirou was dressed in something reminiscing of the Middle-Age was a big factor, in his honest opinion.

He had no idea how did Ayako actually convinced him to enter the store, saying she liked this stuff didn't really convinced him, but maybe what she wanted was to see him dressed in something embarrassing.

Yeah, that was probably the reason.

That train of thought was suddenly interrupted when Ayako called for him. "Emiya! Come here for a second, please."

He walked closer to the booth, curious. "I'm here Ayako, what do you need?"

The curtain was pulled, and Shirou gasped.

In front of him, Ayako Mitsuzuri stood, clad in a blue, long-sleeved medieval-styled dress that had white strips running along its sides. The skirt concealed the totality of her legs, and it had white frilly pieces of fabric in the end of the sleeves. The girl in the outfit had a rather smug looking smirk in her face, and she directed her mischievous eyes to the redhead face.

"Well, Emiya, what do you think?"

Shirou couldn't talk, nor think, properly. Not only Ayako looked really pretty in that dress, but he couldn't help but think in another blue dress-clad girl.

* * *

_The Black Giant roared, his madness obscuring any thought, any logic. He swung his stone weapon, a strange combination between an axe and a club that was easily as big as him, and he did it like it weighted nothing. Such was the strength of the strongest Servant, a mad beast against which there was absolutely no hopes of winning in close-combat. Even then, the Giant's opponent kept trying to hurt him, using some kind of invisible weapon. However, it was not to be, as the individual couldn't do so much as to scratch the invincible foe that stood before them. With a deafening roar, the Beast swung his axe again, and his enemy was sent soaring through the air, a trail of blood coming from them._

_And the redhead couldn't do anything but watch, as this was a battle no human being could even start to _hope _to fight. However, there was one thing he could do, and he did it._

_He screamed._

"_SABER!"_

* * *

Shirou shook his head, trying to keep such thoughts out of his head. Brood about it would solve nothing, and he was not someone to cry over the spilt milk.

"Emiya…Emiya? Emiya!"

"Uh…huh?" He intelligently asked.

In front of him stood a red faced Ayako, who seemed way more flustered than before.

"I-I asked you a question, and you sort of kept there, s-staring and me." She fidgeted.

"Oh…Oh! Sorry, hehe."

He then remembered what Ayako was wearing.

He blushed, and turned around, his face almost steaming. "Y-You look really good."

Now was Ayako's face turn to get even redder. "T-Thank you."

* * *

Right now, Shirou was carrying what amounted a three times his own weight in shopping bags. While that could be considered an amazing feat in itself, he felt like he was just carrying a light weight.

Reinforcement was handy like that.

He looked ahead, at Ayako, who was lightly skipping along the path with a very satisfied look in her face. She had, after buying the blue dress (of course, Shirou paid) made him took pictures with her, like a knight and her maiden. Of course, Shirou ended even more flustered and embarrassed and she ended even more smug-looking.

She turned to look at him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry some of those bags?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Do I actually have a choice to that?"

She seemed pensive for a moment, putting her hand in her chin. "Hm... " Then, she smiled. "…nope, not really"

Shirou sighed, time one thousand and one. He smiled back. "Yeah, thought so."

"Well then, let's get these bags to my place, there are still some places I want to go, yeah?"

One thousand and two.

* * *

After leaving Ayako's new stuff at her place, they returned to Shinto.

"So, Mitsuzuri, where are we going?" Asked the redhead.

"Hm? Well, since you have so much free time, (Shirou grumbled) and you know next to nothing about modern things (the grumbling redoubled), I'm taking you to an arcade!"

"An arcade? Hum, I don't know Mitsuzuri, I'm not very good with games" Shirou argued.

"Oh don't be a coward~! Just because I'll beat you in every game doesn't mean you won't have fun!"

True to her word, Ayako beat Shirou at almost every game, with one or two victories to the redhead favor (mostly thanks to luck), that is until they played fighting games in which Shirou, showing surprising skill, utterly decimated his friend with almost frightening ease.

He looked sheepishly to Ayako's gaping face. "Don't look at me like that, I'm just as surprised as you are."

She didn't know what to say at that, so she huffed and turned around, crossing her arms. "Whatever, I'm bored. C'mon, let's get go."

"Where are we going now?"

She blushed a little and looked shyly to the floor. "Let's go get an ice-cream or something, okay?"

He blushed as well, after all, not only did she look really cute like that, but it definitely sounded like they were in a date. "Ah! Hum, okay, let's go."

* * *

After getting an ice-cream (Shirou paid, again), they ended up walking around the city for a while, looking at the shop windows and chatting with each other. After a while they ended up coming back to Miyama. It was getting pretty late, so Shirou took Ayako home.

"Well, it was fun Emiya." She smiled at him.

"Shirou."

"Huh?"

"Call me Shirou." He scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly.

She flushed slightly and smiled. "Well then, call me Ayako."

They smiled at each other, a red hue on both of their faces.

"Well, aren't you two a cute couple?"

They both turned to their left, blushing madly, though, when Shirou looked at who had interrupted them, he paled.

In front of them, a white haired little girl stood. Her red eyes almost seemed to shine in the fading light.

"It's been a while, Onii-Chan."

Ayako gaped at Shirou. "You have a SISTER?"

On his part, he couldn't answer. Illya's presence meant bad news, especially after their last encounter.

The little Fairy look-alike smiled pleasantly. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid I have to cut this meeting short."

Shirou gulped. Oh f-

"Berserker!"

-uck.


	2. Chapter 2

Pain.

That was all what Shirou mind could process at the moment, as the soaring agony surged through his body.

After hearing Illya's battle cry, Shirou's instincts kicked in and he shoved Ayako aside with all of his strength. After that, he jumped back before the Black Giant's axe hit the spot in which he stood. Quickly tracing a pair of swords, black as the night itself and white as the purest cloud, he grimly stared at his foe.

* * *

Saber was not having a good day. Actually, she was not having good week. Ever since the summoning, the Servant of the Sword was growing increasingly frustrated with her Master, who not only did not have an idea of just what he had gotten himself into, but also didn't even seem to want to fight! It was preposterous! She, as a Servant and a knight, couldn't stand by and let other people fight while she did nothing!

And even after all that, her Master had the gall to just disappear! It was already getting dark, and Shirou hadn't come back home yet. He had already told her he worked at a drinking place, but it was already past his work hours. Just what did he think was he doing?

* * *

Shirou wondered briefly, as he soared through the air, what did he thought he was doing. After making sure Berserker's attention was on him, he tried to dodge the hits that the Mad Enhanced Heracles threw at him.

Bad idea.

Barely blocking the first swing of the… weapon (Shirou couldn't comprehend how anyone would call it such) he was sent flying a good ten meters before crashing painfully in the concrete.

"Shirou!"

His mind froze. Due to the surge of adrenaline, he almost forgot that Ayako was there.

Wait. Ayako was there.

Meaning that… oh hell. She saw him using magic, and she saw a Servant of the Holy Grail War. If Shirou's experience with Lancer was anything to go by, this was not going to end well.

Ayako ran to Shirou's side, frantically searching for wounds. "S-Shirou, are you okay? What's going on?"

He quickly stood up, a grim look on his face. "Ayako, I need you to listen to me now. I want you to go to my house, and tell everyone of what's happening, okay?"

"What are you talking about? We need to get out of here!" She exclaimed.

"Look! We don't have time for this! Just go, I'll be fine."

"Hoh? Is your girlfriend leaving so soon? I'm sorry Onii-chan, but you know the rules. No witnesses! Berserker!"

Shirou hastily took Ayako in his arms, earning a soft squeal from the brunette, and dashed backwards, barely avoiding Berserker's swing. He gritted his theeth as his leg muscles almost snapped under the sudden pressure. With a grunt, he jumped high into a nearby rooftop.

Letting Ayako escape and buy her time was no longer an option, as Illya was adamant in fulfilling the War rules. He needed to get there to safety, and that was in his house, where Saber and Archer could drive the giant off.

* * *

Rin Tohsaka was many things. The school Idol, loved by almost everyone. A genius Magus, said to have no equal in her generation. The master of Archer, even though she would probably sell her Servant for the Saber class. However there was one thing that could be said about her and be completely sure that it was the truth.

Rin Tohsaka was not a patient person.

"Agh, where the hell is that idiot? Doesn't he know that once the sun sets he will be an easy target for any servant?!"

Unfortunately, Rin was unaware just how right that statement was.

She was currently in the Emiya household, as her alliance with Shirou allowed for them to join their forces in both offense and defense. She was sitting at the living room table, enjoying a cup of the tea that she brought from her home. Saber was back in the dojo, meditating apparently.

Rin sighed. Not for the first time, she was having doubts about this alliance with the "Ally of Justice", better known as the Insufferable Idiot. Having Saber on her side was a quite nice benefit, but she couldn't help but grimace every time she looked at her stats. To think that the most sought class in the War would be under the most useless of Masters was quite depressing, even though that had been improving as Shirou gained better control of his newly awakened Magic Circuits, although he was still a long way from Rin and the other Masters Prana output.

Still, he was very loyal and someone she could be sure wouldn't betray her, which was probably the best advantage one could get in the Holy Grail War. In fact, she trusted him more than her own servant, which sadly wasn't that much of a feat.

Rin's musings were cut short as Saber suddenly dashed through the living room.

"Saber? What's going on? Why the sudden rush?"

The blonde knight looked grimly at her. "Shirou is in danger." She said, before bolting out of the house.

Rin sighed. Sometimes, she hated it when she was right.

* * *

As Shirou dashed through Fuyuki's rooftops, Ayako squirmed in his arms.

"Shirou Emiya! Put me down in this instant!" She screamed.

He grimaced. She looked like she was almost going into shock. The sudden chase through the air wasn't helping, either.

"I'm sorry Ayako, but we need to get the hell out of here."

"But why?! Why the hell was that little girl with that... that monster?! What is going on?"

"Listen, Ayako, I can't tell you right now."

"Why?!"

Behind them, at a terrifingly close distance, a deep, unnatural roar was let loose as Berserker chased them, the white-haired girl in his massive shoulder. She was giggling pleasantly, as if she wasn't riding in a giant and trying to kill two people.

"Hahaha, you are quite fast, Onii-chan! But you should already know that you can't outrun my Berserker!"

"Well, for starters, because we have them on our tail." Shirou stated dryly.

* * *

A/N: Short update I'm afraid. I got delayed because no matter how much times I wrote this chapter, I never seemed to like it. However, the next update will be much faster, as I have decided how do I want this short story to go from here. Don't worry, there will be more Shirou/Ayako moments!

Also, thanks a lot to my two reviewers, as they were very kind and inspired me to try and finish the chapter faster :D


	3. Chapter 3

As Rin ran through the dark streets of Miyama, she asked herself is she should have acepted Shinji's offer for an alliance. True, the Matou was a disgusting individual and probably wouldn't last long in the war, but she was sure she would suffer less headaches that way.

After gathering her Servant and akwardly telling Sakura that something had come up, they had left the Emiya household, following Saber's trail as the Servant clad in blue dashed through the rooftops.

She wondered what had actually happened for the Emiya to end in such a bad situation that his own Servant had sensed it. If she were to guess, he probably had ended up seeing something related with the war and some innocent person and had decided to intervene.

The lovav- err... insufferable idiot.

* * *

Said idiot was jumping, running and rolling through rooftops and alleys alike, all the way carrying a near hysterical Ayako Mitsuzuri in his arms.

"D-Do you think we lost them?" she asked.

"I'm no su-"

Suddenly, Shirou's instincts kicked in and he threw himself to the side, narrowly dodging again the Black Servant weapon.

"Moh, this is getting boring Onii-chan! Aren't you gonna fight back?"

He gritted his teeth. Even if he wasn't a crappy magus, fighting Berserker was not something he wanted to do. The Servant raw power and strength was staggering to say the least, and downright terrifying if he was honest with himself. Unfortunately, with Ayako in the equation, he might not have other choice but to face Berserker head on.

And hope to last ten seconds.

"Well then, if you aren't going to fight, then there is no point. I'm very disappointed in you, Onii-chan! Berserker! Finish this, I'm bored."

The redhead's eyes widened as the Mad Giant nearly quadrupled his speed. Pushing his own limbs to the limit, he managed to thrown Ayako out of the way before his left arm exploded under the strain on the insane Servant strength.

Said girl eyes widened as well when she saw Shirou's arm get ripped of him and get utterly destroyed by the monster that had been chasing them. She suddenly felt warm and wetness in her cheeks and realized she was crying. She got up and ran to the redhead side, cradling his head in her lap. She started shouting.

"SHIROU! Please Shirou, answer me! C'mon Shirou! C'mon!"

He was pale, horrifyingly so. The blood loss was quickly getting to him.

"...Ayako."

She was surprised. Not by the fact that he actually answered, but by the calmness in his voice. She hugged him none the less, crying all the while.

"Ayako I need you to listen to me. You need to get out of here."

"W-What? And leave you here? No way in hell-"

"Ayako!" He snapped, silencing her. "Look at me. There is no time for this, get out of here, now."

She looked at him, his face laced with pain, but also with determination. She then looked to the Giant, towering over them. Next, she glanced to the white haired girl who, seeing the brunette gaze on her, smiled pleasantly.

"You should go. I'll give you this one free pass, since you are Onii-chan's girlfriend."

Ayako growled angrily at her. "Why are you doing this?!"

The fairy-like girl smile darkened somewhat. "That is between him and me. I'm sure you understand."

Ayako shook her head. She didn't, she didn't understand anything at all. But there was one thing that was clear to her.

"I'm not going anywhere." She resolutely stated.

"Ayako!"

She ignored his frantic cry, and hugged him tighter, glaring at Illya. "You can do whatever you want, I'm not moving from this spot."

The white-haired girl scowled. "Together until the end, then? Whatever, I'll just kill you both. Berserker!"

With a roar, the Black Giant moved, swinging his massive weapon over them.

Ayako didn't quite understood what happened then. One moment, she was hugging Shirou and glaring at the little girl with the white hair, and the next she was laid out in the floor, with Shirou's body hovering over her. She would have blushed if it weren't for the seriousness of the situation. 'How did he manage to do that with just one arm?'  
However, the most intriguing fact was that they were both still alive, despite the fact that they should have been split in two by now.

Then, a strangely familiar voice reached her ears.

"Really, Emiya-kun? Is there a way for you to not get into trouble?"

* * *

Ayako sat, dumbfounded, in Shirou's living room, staring at both him and her friend and rival Rin Tohsaka.

"So, what you are saying is that magic is real."

"That is correct. Though the correct term would be Thaumaturgy." Rin supplied, sitting across from her at the table.

"Riiight. And you and Shirou here are magicians."

"We are magus, practitioners of Thaumaturgy. There are only five Magicians in the whole world."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes, but explaining it is hard if you are unaware of how Thaumaturgy works."

"Okay whatever. And you and Shirou are in the middle of a secret war that is held every sixty years here, in Fuyuki."

"Yes."

Ayako sighed. "Do you guys really expect me to believe this?"

"I know it is hard to believe." Shirou spoke up, for the first time since returning to the estate. "But you have seen it yourself, Ayako. What was chasing us couldn't be human, don't you think?"

Ayako couldn't help but agree. The... thing's sheer presence was enough to instill a primal fear in her very soul. "What was that thing, anyway?"

"That was a Servant." Rin said. "The War we are a part of is set upon a very complex system. Basically the artifact most of us fight for allows for the summoning of a very powerful entity."

Ayako gulped. "What... What kind of entity?"

"Heroic Spirits." Shirou answered with a serious look on his face. "Humanity's greatest legends, people who have transcended the limitations of what we humans can understand."

Ayako looked troubled. "Then... who was that? The one who chased us?"

He looked at her for a few moments. "Heracles, the Hero of Greece. Probably, the strongest Servant."

She suddenly glared at Shirou, causing him to blink. "And you were thinking of facing something like that alone? Just so I could escape?"

He sheepishly scrached the back of his head chuckling akwardly. "Well, to be honest, I wasn't thinking clearly at the moment."

Rin rolled her eyes at that. "Somehow, I'm not even surprised. That's truly depressing, actually."

Ayako softened her gaze, a troubled look in her eyes. "Can I ask one last thing?"

Rin looked at her. "Sure. What is it?"

The brunette looked at Shirou. "You lost an arm trying to protect me, how are you awake and talking to me?"

The redhead looked at his side, where the bandaged stump that used to be his arm was extremely notorious. "Oh, this. Don't worry too much about it. I have a... relic... inside of me. Thanks to it, I heal pretty fast, and my limbs will regenerate over time."

Ayako looked horrified. "Regenerate? Wait, inside... of you?"

He scratched his cheek with his remaining hand. "Well, it's not exactly inside but... well, it's hard to explain."

Ayako looked down, at her lap. "I think I need some time to... digest all this and think for a bit."

Shirou nodded. "It's okay, we understand. However, it would be best if you stayed here, were we can protect you. I have a lot of empty rooms, so you can pick."

She gave him a troubled smile. "Thanks. Um, do you mind if I call my home?"

"Of course not, come with me."

After showing the phone to Ayako, Shirou returned to the living room.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Emiya-kun."

"I hope so too, Tohsaka. I hope so too."

* * *

Later that night, Ayako found herself lying in a bed in one of the guest rooms of the Emiya household, an arm draped over her eyes and trying to come to terms with everything that she learnt that day.

'This sounds so unreal, but… I know what I saw. Still, magic? I'm not sure I can believe in all of this."

She needed to get up. Laying around wasn't helping her and she didn't feel really tired, even with the day events.

Quickly standing, she made her way through the Emiya household dark halls. She tried to make as little noise as possible, as it was quite late already and everyone was probably sleeping.

Reaching the living room, she was surprised to find the veranda that led to the yard wide open, and that she wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.

She walked up to the veranda, sitting next to him.

"Can't sleep?" He asked.

"No, not really. I just can't help but think about everything you and Rin told me, and everything that happened today."

"Hm… you know, I had the exact same reaction when I met Saber."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know about this war until a few days ago. I was… very surprised when suddenly, I was a part of a secret confrontation between Magi."

"Then… why do you fight in it?"

He stared at something beyond the boundaries of the house, his gaze unfocused.

"Normal Magi aren't like Tohsaka and I. They don't care about the well-being of the general population as long as their 'research' can be finished. They would kill without hesitation to further their goals. In a secret war were Magi can summon powerful entities from ages past, how bad do you think the situation can get?"

She grimaced at that. "I can picture it getting pretty bad. Still, that doesn't answer my question."

He smiled. It was a joyless smile.

"I fight in this war to end it."

That declaration, for some reason, gave a chilling sensation to Ayako. She stared at him, the determination in his eyes, and blushed a little.

To think, they were in a date just before everything sort of went to hell.

However, that was in the past.

Indeed, the situation couldn't be any more different.

"Shirou?"

"Hm?"

"What's the goal? What is the thing so many people with so many power are fighting for?"

He stared at her for a minute or so. "We call it, the Holy Grail."

"The Holy Grail? As in, the cup that gives immortality? Isn't it a Christian concept?"

"I don't know if the Holy Grail truly existed. What we call the Holy Grail is the artifact that houses the system of the war. It is responsible for the summoning of the Servants, the choosing of Masters and the adjudication of Command Seals. The purpose of the War is to obtain it."

"But, why?"

"According to Tohsaka, the winner of the War will get a single, unlimited wish."

"An unlimited wish. It seems a little farfetched to me, Shirou."

He chuckled. "I think so too." He smiled at her.

She smiled back. "Then, what is your wish?"

Shirou looked at the moon, shining through the clouds in the night sky. "Would you believe me… if I said I have no wish?"

She looked surprised. "You don't wish for anything?"

"I think I have anything I need to accomplish my own wishes myself. I don't want to rely on some all-powerful device to do it."

She pondered on it for a while. "Then, what would you do if you manage to win?"

"I promised to give my wish to Tohsaka."

"Really? You must really like her."

He sputtered at that. "W-What?"

She laughed, an honest, hearty laugh. "Man, you are just too easy to tease, Shirou."

He grunted, but smiled afterwards. "I guess growing up with Fuji-nee might have left with a distorted vision on women."

She laughed harder at that.

After basking in the silence and the calmness, Ayako decided to ask other question. "Tell me Shirou, when you said that you are fighting this war to end it, what did you mean."

"Well, basically, I'm trying to stay alive and help as many innocent as I can, and if I caught notice of a Master doing something dangerous, I'll try to stop him or her."

"So you are fighting to protect people?"

"Hm… yes, you could say that."

She looked at him awkwardly.

"W-What is it?" He asked.

"Um, nothing, just that I didn't really believe you were being serious when you said you wanted to be a Hero."

He blushed and sputtered, while Ayako smiled innocently.

"It was my father wish, you know." Shirou said after a while.

"Hm?"

"The night he died, he told me about his dream. To be an 'Ally of Justice', someone who would save everyone no matter what. He knew it was pointless, such a thing couldn't really exist, but he still sought it with all of his heart."

"Was he a… Magis?"

"Magus, and yes, he was the one who taught me about the existence of Thaumaturgy."

"What happened to him?"

"He died here, in this house, due to a curse imposed on him."

"A curse?"

"He was a Master in the Fourth Grail War. As far as I know, he must have encountered some Servant who used some kind of black magic."

"He was a master like you?"

"Yes."

They stayed in silence for a while, both looking at the moon.

"Hey Shirou?"

"Yes, Ayako?"

"Are we gonna be… you know, okay?"

He looked at her straight in the eyes. She almost lost herself on those golden orbs.

"As long as I'm breathing, I'll protect you, so don't worry."

She blushed and nodded, a smile worming its way to her face.

* * *

Later that night, Ayako found herself soundly asleep. Her doubts had been laid to rest by Shirou.

Even if everything she took for real seemed to be false.

Even if she couldn't really feel safe anymore.

Even if she wasn't sure she could believe everything that had been said that night.

There was one thing she knew.

She would believe in Shirou.


End file.
